Stocking and method of making the same



Sept. 30, 1958 J. J. MCDONOUGH 2,353,865

STOCKING AND METHOD OF' MAKING THE SAME Filed Nov. lO l 55 IN VEN TOR.

d 7 ATTOR N EYS United States Patent STOCKIN G AND METHOD F MAKING THESAlVlE John J. McDonough, Belmont, N. H., assignor to Scott & Williams,Incorporated, Laconia, N. H., a corporation of Massachusetts ApplicationNovember 10, 1953, Serial No. 391,177

12 Claims. (Cl. 66-173) This invention relates to stockings and methodsof making the same and has particular reference to the formation ofpicot edges on turned welts of circular knit ladies stockings, beingparticularly adapted for the knitting of sheer ladies stockings.

Picot edges on the turned welts of stockings should provide awell-defined hinge-like fold line for the welts and, at the same time,provide an attractive finished appearance for the top of the stocking.Picot edges accordingly were in widespread use in the case of stockingsknit from cotton, silk, rayon or other materials. When nylon came intouse, however, it was found that picot edges in nylon welts of circularknit hose were very unsatisfactory. lnstead of presenting well-definedand regular peaks and valleys, picot edges knit of nylon yarn presentedan irregular and somewhat 'ragged appearance due to the nature of nylonyarn which refused to fold into a picot of well-defined and attractiveappearance. The result has been that picot edges have generally beenabandoned for nylon welts produced on circular machines, plain edgedwelts being used.

The present invention relates to the production of highly satisfactorypicot edges formed of nylon. It has been found that if, in accordancewith the invention, crinkled rather than plain nylon is used either aska reenforcement at the picot edge or in substitution for plain nylon,the results are highly satisfactory and essentially of the well-definedcharacteristic appearance resulting when picot edges are formed usingcotton, silk or rayon. The crinkled nature of the yarn imparts to thenylon a llexibility which serves to promote the production ofwell-defined peaks and valleys in the picot edge.

The broad object of the invention is, accordingly, the provision ofdesirable picot edges formed of nylon or similar plastic yarn, and it isto be understood that the term nylon as used herein is intended to referto both nylon and other yarns of similar characteristics. This broadobject of the invention together with subsidiary objects particularlyrelating to details of procedure and stocking construction will becomeapparent from the following description read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing in which:

Figure l is a perspective view showing a circular knit ladies stockinghaving a picot edge in its turned welt provided in accordance with theinvention;

Figure 2 is a diagram showing a welt construction at the picot involvinga change of yarn from plain nylon to crinkled nylon;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing the reenforcement ofplain nylon yarn used in the formation of a. welt with a lighter cnnklednylon yarn at the region of formation of a picot; and t Figure 4 is aview similar to Figure 2 but showing a two-feed welt involving alternatecourses of plain and crinkled nylon yarn with inclusion of a light.preshrunk plain nylon yarn inthe stitches of the crinkled nylon yarn atthe picot.

A,Figure l shows at 2 the leg of a circular knit ladies ICC nylonstocking which may be, though not necessarily, of sheer type, surmountedby a turned Welt 4 provided with a picot edge 5. The stocking except forthe construction involved at the picot may be entirely conventional withconventional foot construction and may be knit on a machine ofconventional type. Since no special machine is required for the practiceof the present invention, reference may be made to the patent to A. E.Page 1,922,977, dated August 15, 1933, for a disclosure of a suitablemachine not only capable of knitting all of the other parts of astocking but the picot edge involved in the present invention as well.The picot edge of said Page patent is provided by tuckin'g and, as willbecome apparent hereafter, 'it is to such a picot edge that the presentinvention is particularly applicable. However, the invention is alsoapplicable to float stitch picot edges as disclosed in the patent to A.E. Page No. 1,903,706, dated April ll, 1933. For further backgroundmatters relevant to the present invention, there may be referred to thepatent to Faucette No. 2,396,166, dated March 5, 1946, the patent to F.R. Page No. 2,601,451, dated June 24, 1952, and to my prior applicationSerial No. 326,967, filed December 19, 1952, now Patent No. 2,710,531,dated June 14, 1955. patent to Faucette discloses the use of preshrunknylon in the welts of stockings, and the present invention is applicableto stockings provided in accordance with that patent. The patent to F.R. Page discloses in particular, from the standpoint of relevance to thepresent invention, the formation and use of crinkled nylon yarn.Furthermore, it discloses the use of crinkled nylon yarn in theformation of the various 'parts of circular knit ladies stockingsincluding welts thereof, and as appear, the invention is applicable tostockings provided in accordance with this patent. My applicationreferred to above discloses certain improvements on the types ofstockings provided in accordance with the F. R. Page patent, and theinvention is also applicable to stockings provided in accordance withsaid application.

It may iirst be assumed that the invention is applied to a stocking themajor portion of the welt of which is knit of plain nylon yarn ofsuitable weight, 40 denier yarn being typical. The picotl edge portionof such la welt is diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 2, wherein, inaccordance with the invention, plain nylon 6 is used to knit theportions of the welt preceding and succeeding the region of formation ofthe picot edge, while 'in such region a yarn change is made to Crinklednylon yarn indicated at 8. lt Ahas been found, for example, that asatisfactory picot edge may be provided by utilizing crinkled nylon yarn8 in twelve courses, four of these being plain knit, the next fourinvoling the formation of the picot, and the next four being plain knitand fllowed by a yarn change to plain nylon. These successive groups offour courses each are indicated respectively at 10, 12 and 14. For theformation of the picot, tucking is effected as indicated at 16 in everyfourth Wale. As will be evident from comparison of the structure withthat illustrated in Page Patent 1,922,977, the formation of the picotfrom the standpoint of control of the yarns is conventional and may becarried out by the knitting machine of that patent. It will beunderstood that Figure 2 (and also Figures 3 and 4 later described) isdiagrammatic and conventionalized. Under a microscope the componentstitches and groups of stitches involved in the picot are highlyirregular in shape and.

placement and the fabric at the picot is essentially t reedirnensional,the tucks serving to provide bunching of the other stitches in suchfashion as to cause them to stand out of the general plane of the fabricbefore folding occurs and with the result that they provide the peaks inthe picot edge when the welt is folded or turned.

The aforementioned leye is a regular and uniform arrangement of peaksand valleys similar to What appears in the formation of good p1cot edgeswhen knitting silk, but in `contrast with the ragged and irregular edgeswhich result from knitting of picot edges from plain nylon.

When crinkled nylon is substituted for plain nylon as indicated inFigure 2, the crinkled nylon may be of the same denier as the plainnylon and may be similar in its monoiilament or multilamentcharacteristics to, or different from, the plain nlyon. If desired,either monoiilament or multililament nylon yarns may be used as one orboth of the plain and crinkled yarns.

The crinkled yarn used in accordance with Figure 2, and also that usedin accordance with modifications hereafter described, is of the samenature and may be produced in the same fashions as the crinkled yarnsreferred to in said F. R. Page patent and in my said prior application.It may, for example, be formed by knitting plain nylon into a tube,setting the tube with the application of heat, and then revelling toproduce the crinkled yarn. Alternatively, the crinkled yarn may beproduced in other fashions, as disclosed in said F. R. Page patent.

As a typical instance, a Welt having a picot edge of desirable type maybe produced using plain and crinkled nylon yarns each of denier and tenstrand. The plain nylon may be of preshrunk type in accordance with saidFaucette patent, and the iinished stocking may be boarded in the usualfashion to provide shrinking of unshrunk yarn in the leg and otherparts, in accordance with said Faucette patent.

Referring to Figure 3, the stitch formation in this ligure is the sameas that in Figure 2 With the exception that the crinkled yarn is addedas a reenforcernent to the plain yarn forming the Welt. For example, theplain Welt yarn 18 may be of 40 denier, ten strand preshrunk nylon Whilethe crinkled yarn added as reenforcement and indicated at 2li may be ofl5 denier monotilarnent type nylon. This crinkled yarn is shown as addedin the successive groups of four courses each indicated at 22, 24 and26. The tucking to provide the picot is indicated at 28 and occurs inevery fourth Wale. The results are similar to those above described buteven better in the production of a Well-defined picot of attractiveappearance. The crinkled nylon yarn apparently does not achieve its eectin providing a good picot merely because of a lessening of stiffness ofthe loops in which it is embodied since the preshrunk plain nylon inFigure 3 is present throughout the picot. However, without the addedcrinkled yarn a picot produced using the 40 denier preshrunk plain nylonalone is quite unsatisfactory and ragged in appearance. Stockingsprovided in accordance with Figure 3 may be finished in conventionalfashion with boarding which will provide shrinkage of the unshrunk yarnsin the leg and parts other than the Welt.

The invention is also applicable to multifeed stockings. provided inaccordance with my application referred to above. In accordance withsaid application the Welts may be knit multifeed with various groups ofcourses of plain and crinkled nylon yarns interspersed with each otherin successive courses. For example, in two-feed knitting, a plain nylonyarn is knit at one feed and a crinkled nylon yarn at the other. If suchknitting is carried through the Welt, spaced tuck stitches may beprovided to form a picot and the resulting picot edge will have thesatisfactory characteristics described due to the presence of thecrinkled nylon yarn. lf desired, of course, the plain yarn or yarnsinvolved in such a stocking may have a crinkled yarn or yarnssubstituted therefor in the region of picot formation; or,alternatively, an additional crinkled nylon yarn or yarns may be addedas reenforcement to the plain nylon yarn or yarns in the region of picotformation; or, as will presently be described, a plain nylon yarn may beadded as a reenforcement to the crinkled yarn or yarns in the region ofpicot formation.

Figure 4 illustrates a picot of very satisfactory characteristicsprovided in a two-feed Welt. The welt involves alternate courses ofplain yarn 30 fed at one feed interknit with intermediate courses ofcrinkled yarn 32 fed at the other feed. Each of these may, for example,be of 40 denier mono-or multiillament nylon, the plain yarn 3l) being,desirably, preshrunk to attain the rcsults referred to in said Faucettepatent and in my prior application. ln the region of the formation ofthe picot, e. g. in the siX courses of crinkled yarn 32 involved ther.-in, there may be added as a reenforcement a light, for example l5denier, preshrunk uncrinkled nylon yarn 3d. The addition of this plainreenforcing yarn was found to give a picot more distinct than that-obtained in its absence. in Figure 4, the picot formation involves, asin the other modifications, tucking in every fourth Wale as indicated at36. The ing may involve tucking of the crimped yarn rather than of theuncrimped yarn as specifically shown.

Where in the foregoing reference has been made to the addition ofcrinkled nylon yarn as a reenforcernent, it will be understood that thecrinkled yarn may, if desired` be knit with plain nylon yarn throughoutthe Welt and not merely in the region of picot formation.

The type of picot which is provided in accordance with the inventionneed not necessarily be such as to involve tuck stitchers as in Figures2, 3 and 4 and as shown in said A. E. Page Patent 1,922,977. Theinvention is equally applicable to the formation of lioat stitch picotedges in accordance with A. E. Page Patent 1,903,706.

The term tuck stitch as used herein refers to a stitch structureinvolving held loop and tuck loop components.

It will be evident from the foregoing that the invention is broadlyapplicable and, accordingly, is not to be construed as limited except asrequired by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A circular knitted stocking having a turned nylon Welt comprising apicot edge, said picot edge having in the stitches thereof both plainnylon yarn and crinkled nylon yarn.

2. A circular knitted stocking having a turned nylon Welt comprising apicot edge, said picot edge being formed by coursewise repeats of otherthan plain stitches and having in the stitches of each repeat both plainnylon yarn and crinkled nylon yarn.

3. A circular knitted stocking having a turned nylon Welt comprising apicot edge, said picot edge being formed by coursewise repeats of tuckstitches and having in the tuck stitches of each repeat both plain nylonyarn and crinkled nylon yarn.

4. A circular knitted stocking having a turned nylon welt comprising apicot edge, said Ipicot edge having in the stitches thereof both plainpreshrunk nylon yarn and crinkled nylon yarn.

5. A circular knitted stocking having a turned nylon Welt comprising apicot edge, said picot edge being formed by coursewise repeats of otherthan plain stitches and having in the stitches of each repeat both plainpreshrunk nylon yarn and crinkled nylon yarn.

6. A circular knitted stocking having a turned nylon welt comprising apicot edge, said picot edge being formed by coursewise repeats of tuckstitches and having in the tuck stitches of each repeat both plainpreshrunk nylon yarn and crinkled nylon yarn.

7. The method of knitting by circular knitting a stocking comprisingknitting the major .portion of the initial half of a turned Welt fromplain nylon yarn, substituting for the plain nylon yarn a crinkled nylonyarn and knitting therewith a picot edge structure, and then continuingthe knitting of the turned Welt with plain nylon yarn.

l8, The method of knitting by circular knitting a sheer stockingcomprising knitting the major portion of the initial half of a turnedwelt from plain nylon yarn, introducing a crinkled nylon yarn andknitting from the plain nylon yarn and said crinkled nylon yarn a picotedge structure, and then continuing the knitting of the turned welt withplain nylon yarn only.

9. The method of knitting by circular knitting a sheer stockingcomprising knitting the major portion of the initial half of a turnedwelt from plain nylon yarn, substituting for the plain nylon yarn acrinkled nylon yarn and knitting therewith a picot edge structureincluding tuck stitches, and then continuing the knitting of the turnedwelt with plain nylon yarn.

10. The method of knitting by circular knitting a sheer stockingcomprising knitting the major portion of the initial half of a turnedwelt from plain nylon yarn, introducing a crinkled nylon yarn landknitting from the plain nylon yarn and said lcrinkled nylon yarn a picotedge structure including tuck stitches, and then continuing the knittingof the turned -welt with plain nylon yarn only.

11. The method of knitting by circular knitting a sheer stockingcomprising knitting the major portion of the initial half of a turnedwelt from nylon yarn, substituting for the nylon yarn a crinkled nylonyarn and knitting therewith a picot edge structure.

12. The method of knitting by circular knitting a sheer stockingcomprising knitting the major portion of the initial half of a turnedwelt from nylon yarn, introducing a crinkled nylon yarn and knittingfrom the rst mentioned nylon yarn and said crinkled nylon yarn a picotedge structure.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,922,977 Page Aug. 15, 1933 2,601,451 Page June 24, 1952 2,668,430Laros Feb. 9, 1954

